The Falland Back Again
by Jason de L'Epee
Summary: Shadow has fallen to his death...or has he?


The Fall...and Back Again  
by Jason de L'Epée  
  
FOREWARD:  
I read NetRaptor's look at what would have happened if Shadow had survived his fall, so I was inspired to write one of my own, but not quite like NetRaptor's. I had the opening sequence of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" when I wrote this. I'd like to thank Joy Williams from Reunion Rec. for her song "Every Moment." I hope you like it.  
  
- - - - -  
  
Two lone figures stood upon ARK. The body of a paranatural lizard fell to the planet disk below. The yellow figure flew up to a fading white figure.  
  
"Shadow! Shadow! We did it! We defeated him!" Sonic shouted, but the withering figure did not respond. His white glow was quickly fading into a grayish haze.  
  
"Shadow! What's the matter!? We did it! We can go home now! Shadow!"  
  
"Sonic," Shadow rasped and gasped for life "I'm dying."  
  
"What!? What are you saying!?"  
  
"I'm withering away. I have no purpose in my life. My purpose was to obey Maria, and I have fulfilled my task. I must go now."  
  
"No! You mustn't!" yelled Sonic quaking. Just a few moments before, Shadow was his archrival, enemy even, and now, friends.  
  
"I must. Do me one favor:" he gasped and spoke labouringly "Tell...the people...I'm...sorry."  
  
"You can't go! You cannot!"  
  
"Goodbye." Shadow said and his grip failed. Sonic leapt to the edge, trying to grasp the fading hedgehog's hand, but in vain. Shadow was gone, his shrunken body falling to the earth."  
  
"NOO!!! SHADOW!!" he yelled to the small body quickly fading from view. Sonic stayed looking for a season. It is a common saying that real men don't cry, but Sonic, after missing his new friend, wept openly. He slowly got back to the main deck, where stood a bunch of his other pals, inquiring what happened.  
  
"Are you ok?"  
  
"Are we safe?"  
  
"Where's Shadow?"  
  
To any of these, he gave no answer; he just shuffled wearily by. Only a black chao knew what happened, but said nothing.  
  
Sonic finally said after what seemed like hours, "I wanta go home."  
  
- - - - -  
  
Falling. That all he was doing. Falling. Falling and still falling. The solid ground of Möbius streaked toward him. Whether he felt the impact or not is yet to be told. He remembered that when he hit, all became darkness. Not like a dark room, with just a shred of light, but a great darkness as tar. He saw nothing but black. Then, like a star, a small twinkling light made itself visible to him. It beckoned to him to follow and so he did. He followed it until the light swelled into a great light. And in that light was a grand, golden city. He never saw anything like this in his short life. He walked up to the gate, expecting it to open in front of him as he approached, but it remained closed. Was this vision to taunt him? Then, he heard a voice that could be compared to the sound of a roaring waterfall.  
  
"Shadow, Shadow, I have not called thee to my side just yet. Thy task in that world has not been finished. Go back, go back."  
  
Then, he saw a thatched ceiling, nothing like in that grand city. When he opened his eyes, a burning pain like a great furnace enveloped his shattered body. He tried to fight it, but it was too strong. Tears poured down his burned face. Small moans poured from his mouth.  
  
"Ah, you woke up. I've been hoping you would. How are you today, sir?"  
  
Shadow tried to speak, but no words would come. But some strange sense was awakened in his Keeper and he immediately got Shadow some pain reliever.  
  
"Here you are," he said injecting the reliever. "It'll take a bit, but you'll feel better soon. You took quite a beating. I found you on the ground a few miles north of here. I brought you here and called the doctor. He thought you were dead, but I had hope. Some great power kept you from leaving."  
  
Shadow did not reply, but lied painfully staring at the ceiling.  
  
"Do you know what happened?"  
  
Shadow tried to reply, but a horrible realization came to the injured hedgehog. He didn't know what happened. He couldn't remember a thing before now. This made him sweat in fear, causing his burns to react with the salt. His forehead burned. He decided to stop thinking about it for now, before a vicious cycle of pain began. All he did was stare at his Keeper, a big, purple cat that lived alone, besides his pet frog.  
  
"I hope you heal quickly; you look like a man from a nightmare."  
  
Later that night, he had nightmares of falling, burning, and even death. He woke up with a start, his face pale as the moon. What happened to him? He can't remember! He sat up painfully and cast a glance across the room to a lonely mirror. He looked into it, and was horrified to see who he is: A thing with skin, red blotches covered his skin, dry blood clinged to his charred, blistered surface. His Keeper was right; he was a thing from a nightmare.  
  
Days passed. Weeks passed. His healing was slow, but steady. He started eating milk and soft applesauce-food. Then as the weeks dragged on, he started eating more solid foods without his stomach rejecting them. His fur grew slowly back. He looked into the mirror repeatedly to find the still nightmarish figure. He grew spines, jagged but they grew out. His fur grew out red, but faded into a pitch-black with red streaks on the spines and appendages. His nightmare was fading. The only thing still wrong was his memory. He still couldn't remember anything before, even his own name. But somehow his name came, like a dream.  
  
Shadow. Shadow. He must remember that name. When his Keeper was out getting the next meal, he listened to the radio that broadcasted from a nearby city. A song was on, and a woman was singing a beautiful song:  
  
Don't let go...Hold on to every moment...Always know...hold on to every moment...that you can...  
  
Every moment. This phrase rang in his mind. He wanted to hold on, to remember every moment of his life before, but he was held in a prison of the worst kind: Amnesia. He cried, he wept; he wanted to remember. Then, a whisper like a small breeze, he heard one word.  
  
Remember.  
  
He responded. "Who are you? Can you help me?"  
  
Remember.  
  
"I need help, how can I remember?"  
  
Remember.  
  
And the voice spoke no more. He thought some being had come down and gave him his present task. Remember. He decided to remember. He concentrated, so hard as if to pop every nerve he had. In a glance, he saw his shoes: Red and white sneakers with an exaggerated arch. Wires protruded from the sole. Something clicked. He saw himself falling in water and was attacked by something. He fought it and ultimately won, how he did not know, but as the thing died, he remembered falling a great fall. He could not breathe. After he fell some distance, he remembered burning. His pain came back, but not a full pain. He was falling. And somehow, he lived. He remembered how he was here. The Keeper, whose name was Big, found him half dead, charred. And Big took him to this place to recover. He gave a great cheer. He had remembered!  
  
- - - - -  
  
He told Big what had happened, and that now he was almost whole. Then, he remembered another figure, a blue one, looking somewhat like himself. He remembered his sorrow, agony. He must tell the blue hedgehog that he lived. He must find him.  
  
When Big was gone, he decided now was the time. He walked off solemnly to the city, hoping that the blue hedgehog was there. He got to the city and saw a grand highway. He thought he saw himself running on that bridge, but why he couldn't remember. He needed to find that hedgehog. He would do anything, even walk all the way to his house, to find him. He did not know what was leading him, but he needed all the help he could get. Some strange notion told him to go north a great distance. He would walk all the way. He hoped, prayed to find him. With one final look, he took his first step into the wild.  
  
It seemed everything was against him. He did not know where he was going, or when he would arrive, but he needed to find him. That thought consumed him. He slept in the open, and probably would've died before now, but his ongoing determination gave him life. If he couldn't run, he'd walk. If he couldn't walk, he'd crawl. If he couldn't crawl, he'd drag himself. Days passed. Weeks passed. And after 2 and a half months of endless trekking across the wilderness, he stumbled on the outskirts of a small village.  
  
- - - - -  
  
A small two-tailed fox was playing around in the dirt, but not really paying attention to his play. Every once in a while, he'd turn his head to a lone cabin, which is where he and Sonic called home. He sighed as if discouraged, when a very beautiful chipmunk in a denim vest came out to get a breath of fresh air. She spied the fox's despondency.  
  
"What's the matter?" inquired Sally.  
  
"Oh, it's Sonic. Every time I think of him, I'm reminded of why he alienated himself in his cabin. He's taking this deal with Shadow really hard, as if he cause his demise."  
  
"You're right, he's not been himself."  
  
"Can you talk to him?"  
  
"Sure, I...wait, did you see something?"  
  
"See what?" his curiosity peaked.  
  
"I thought I saw something."  
  
When Tails looked in the general direction that Sally was looking, he saw nothing. "I don't see anything, Aunt Sally."  
  
"I thought I saw some figure, walking this way, but I guess...wait, I see it again!"  
  
This time, Tails looked and saw indeed a figure: black with red streaks, dirty from long travel. The figure was walking like a zombie.  
  
"Is that...no, it couldn't it? Who is that?" Tails looked again. "It is! Shadow!" he yelled as he sprang to his feet and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him.  
  
When Shadow first came into the clearing, the first he saw was a young, preteen fox screening straight towards him. Two-tailed fox. He remembered one on a far away place. What was his name?  
  
"Shadow! Shadow! It's me, Tails!"  
  
Tails. More pieces were falling into place. This thought barely crossed him when the fox ran p and hugged him. He didn't know how to feel.  
  
"Shadow! How on earth did you survive!?"  
  
"I...I fell...I fell through...fire. Where am I?  
  
"You're in Knothole, my home!"  
  
"I need...to find blue...blue hedgehog."  
  
"Blue Hedgehog? That fall must have rattled your brain. His name is Sonic." Then the fox gasped. "What was I thinking!? I need to get Sonic! He'll be happy to see you!" and he ran of to get Sonic.  
  
Sonic. Now he remembered. Sonic, his friend that tried to save him from the fall, but missed. Sonic was sad; he must find Sonic.  
  
- - - - -  
  
Sonic was sitting on his bed bemoaning the fact that he practically killed his new friend. His morale had dropped to an all time low. He'd never forget this. It would always haunt him. Then, a frenzied fox practically ran through the closed door.  
  
"Sonic! Sonic! It's Shadow! He's alive!"  
  
"Oh, bud, please don't try to make me feel good. He's dead and that's that."  
  
"I'm telling you that he is here! In Knothole! And if you don't believe me, I'll have to drag you out!!"  
  
He didn't need to, there stood Shadow in the doorway. Sonic was overcome; he didn't know what to say. His friend, thought dead, was standing in front of him.  
  
"Sonic, are...you sad?"  
  
"Shadow! How did you? You fell!"  
  
"Through fire...and I...can't remember."  
  
"Oh, my gosh, Shadow! I thought you're dead! Shadow."  
  
"I...am here."  
  
- - - - -  
  
As the weeks past, Shadow was reminded of what he was, and his memory was nearly restored. All that was missing what between the fall and the actual waking up. He was free from his self-induced prison. He was free.  
  
Rotor the Walrus fixed Shadow's shoes, and even updated them. It took Shadow a while to skate like he had, but shakily, he managed. Everyone wanted to hear about Shadow, and he was made an official Freedom Fighter, although, he never really figured out what that meant.  
  
Later that day, when the sun began to set, he thought he felt a warm sensation, as if someone great and mighty was smiling at him. And then, before he joined the others he heard one more word:  
  
Remember. 


End file.
